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United Africa Organization v. Biden hearing set for Thursday
United African Organization and thousands of Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery applicants filed this lawsuit against the Biden Administration in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (case number: 1:22-cv-02599), challenging the unlawful withholding of Diversity Visas.
Two motions are pending before the Court: Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, and the Biden administration’s motion to dismiss.
The Diversity Visa lottery program is responsible for the most significant percentage of African and Black immigration to the United States. According to the CATO Institute, Africans Face Steepest Decline in Immigrant Visas under Biden. Yet, in its motion to dismiss, the Biden administration is challenging the standing of United African Organization to bring the suit. Plaintiffs rebut this argument in their response brief.
(For comment from Allen Orr, Jr., Esq., Past President of AILA, on this issue: (202) 587-5738)
Pursuant to court order, the Biden Administration must include visa issuance data in a reply brief due Tuesday, August 2.
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As part of their legal challenge, Plaintiffs attack the lawfulness of Secretary Antony Blinken’s policy changes implemented through a November 2021 cable with the subject line, “Recalibration of Consular Services Prioritization at Posts Abroad.” They also attack the lawfulness of a subtle February change to the Foreign Affairs Manual that disadvantaged Diversity Visa applicants in the scheduling of their interviews.
Immigrant plaintiffs entered the FY-2022 lottery in late 2020 and were selected in May 2021 from a pool of millions of entries through a computer-generated random drawing. They should each be eligible for 55,000 visas that should be issued in FY-2022 (between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022). With only two months left in fiscal year 2022, the Biden administration has issued fewer than 30,000 diversity visas.
On June 22, in another lawsuit brought on behalf of African DV-2022 selectees known as Tesfaye v. Biden, the Biden administration filed a notice of erratarevealing that the sequence that Diversity Visa selectees are interviewed was different than what the State Department represents publicly or has argued in courts over the last two years.
Fasika Alem, Programs Director of United African Organization, said:
“The administration’s decision to make the DV lottery program a low priority for visa issuances is decreasing African immigration to the US, and that outcome is inconsistent with the country’s values.”
Alexandra George, co-counsel for Plaintiffs, said:
“President Biden campaigned on promises to support the DV lottery, but the administration’s policies are the biggest hurdle for African winners. These broken promises harm thousands of real people and tarnish Biden’s legacy.”
Jana Al-Akhras, co-counsel for Plaintiffs, said:
“The DV Program, its selectees, and its recipients are a vital aspect of our country’s immigration process — the importance of which cannot be overstated. The Biden Administration’s attempt to undermine this program harms our nation and runs contrary to the express will of Congress. We urge the Biden Administration to consider the harm resulting from their deprioritzation of these very worthy applicants.”
For the UAO v Biden docket filings, see: https://morrisonurena.com/uao-v-biden